Title: Ender's Game Author: Orson Scott Card Setting: The year is never specified, but appears to be in a society not too much more advanced than currently, putting the date somewhere around 2020-2050. Earth was attacked less than 20 years earlier by a fleet of sentient aliens ruled by a hive mind, akin to something like a bee colony. Their goal was to make the Earth another colony for their race, yet were pushed back by collective human ingenuity, and government ruled by the hegemony; a truce for the benefit of humankind, uniting us under one vigorously authoritarian and united banner under which the greatest threat is another invasion fleet arriving at any time. Under this oppressive, yet necessary government, children born over the specified limit are not allowed, with varying laws per nation. Ender Wiggin, our protagonist, is the third child in a family, and is subject to government tests, which gauge his ability for battle, command, and psychological makeup through the use of an invasive implant on the back of his head. Shortly in to the book, he is chosen for battle school, a space station dedicated to the training of children in space combat, as children more readily grasp the concepts than adults; their minds being more open to rigorous mental and tactical training needed to combat in a 3d plane. Protagonist: Ender Wiggin has a very interesting relationship with his family; nothing appears to be what it is on the surface. Ender seems to not know what he wants out of life, but because of troubles with his antagonistic torturous brother, and the increasing social pressure he knows his family faces because of his mere existence, accepts the training 'for the good of humanity'. Easily likable, incredibly smart, our protagonist struggles with his internal character of nonviolence, during a time of war. But it's more than just that, as we ride along through the life of his family living without him, his sister missing him, his brother's cold calculated logic, visible just beneath the surface. It's impossible to not root for him, as the world seems to change daily, requiring new and ever increasing demands upon his already stressed social life in battle school. The good: Told from a child's perspective, the book makes no attempts to portray our protagonist as juvenile, or an emotional wreck, that most stories about young adults find so attractive. Instead, we finally an easily relatable, fast learning ever changing and evolving person, that feels different, yet the same throughout his progression in life and battle school. The future the book is placed in seems believable, the history, although very briefly mentioned at different parts of the story, seems likely. The politics of the battle school, read from military's perspective, and the teachers, gives an opposing view to the moral and ethical code of Ender, thus it seems to provide both sides of the story, and it is left up to the reader to decide which morality best suits them. It seems to be an interesting story about the morality of war, government, and the soldiers who fight in this future society, and the actual impact on policy and the progression of their decisions play. The bad: It can sometimes be hard to relate to the anger or sorrow Ender feels; he seemingly over reacts, or under reacts to differing situations. However, this may just be personality, perhaps the over and under reacting are to enable the reader to view the story as believable, a character who is not perfect. At times, the dialogue may seem over simplified. Told in a simple vocabulary, this might actually be a plus as the story is very clear, and easy to read. Notes: First book in a quite good series, the whole series having deeper philosophical questions and propositional answers. I actually find the second in the series, Ender's Shadow, much more relatable because of the character choice, and since the stories are parallel and not consecutive, I would actually recommend the sequel above the Original.
Good books, although I personally found Dune quite hard to just sit down and read, large swathes of the book do not readily appear to be important, then you are forced to go back and reread sections if you have a terrible memory like me War of the Worlds was awesome. H.G Wells wrote the time machine novel didn't he? About the future society of mankind?
Yes and he also wrote The Invisible Man and the Island of Dr. Moreau. He and Jules Verne are considered the fathers of science fiction. On the Jules Verne note, I'd like to add Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea and A Journey to the Center of the Earth.
Yes and he also wrote The Invisible Man and the Island of Dr. Moreau. He and Jules Verne are considered the fathers of science fiction. On the Jules Verne note, I'd like to add Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea and A Journey to the Center of the Earth.[/quote:2wov6nbv] Wouldn't you say Jules Verne's version of the future was less informative and more audio/visually/character driven than the average science fiction?
Yes and he also wrote The Invisible Man and the Island of Dr. Moreau. He and Jules Verne are considered the fathers of science fiction. On the Jules Verne note, I'd like to add Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea and A Journey to the Center of the Earth.[/quote:14uxugna] Wouldn't you say Jules Verne's version of the future was less informative and more audio/visually/character driven than the average science fiction?[/quote:14uxugna] Yes, but I do enjoy Verne's books. Captain Nemo is a bad ass
I would have to concur with the above suggestion of Dune by Frank Herbert. It is, after all, one of the few books that has a song about it by Iron Maiden.
I saw this thread and immediately thought Ender's Game and then I saw the first post. For a second choice thats harder, Leviathan by Scott Westerfield is good mix with fantasy though.
my favorite scifi fantasy hybrid is the Otherland series by Tad Williams... next time I actually have money I will check out leviathan upon your suggestion... hope its good
The hegemony sequels, and beans timeline were quite interesting to me.... ender in the future was disappointing but jane was interesting. I think the problem is that the technology loses its ability to believable when they start those future ones.
The Forever War is quite good. Waaay too anti-Vietnam for my tastes, but it is a compelling read about how relativistic warfare might work. Also loved the Foundation series by Asimov.
It's funny because I've only ever read other authors stories in the foundation universe, and found most of them quite good, yet never looked up the actual series!
I am currently enjoying "The Worthing Saga" by Orson Scott Card. I just finished reading Dracula: by Bram Stocker and before that Dune. I am kind of on a streak.
